Old Testament

New Testament

1 Kings 8:35-51 Catholic Public Domain Version (CPDV)

35. And if the heavens have closed, so that there is no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to your name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions,

36. hear them from heaven, and forgive the sins of your servants and of your people Israel. And reveal to them the good way, along which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as a possession.

37. Then, if famine rises over the land, or pestilence, or corrupt air, or blight, or locust, or mildew, or if their enemy afflicts them, besieging the gates, or any harm or infirmity,

38. or whatever curse or divine intervention may happen to any man among your people Israel, if anyone understands, having been wounded in his heart, and if he will have extended his hands in this house,

39. you will hear in heaven, in your dwelling place, and you will forgive. And you will act so that you give to each one in accord with his own ways, just as you see in his heart, for you alone know the heart of all the sons of men.

40. So may they fear you, all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which you have given to our fathers.

41. Moreover, the foreigner too, who is not of your people Israel, when he will have arrived from a distant land because of your name, for they shall hear about your great name, and your strong hand,

42. and your outstretched arm everywhere: so when he arrives and prays in this place,

43. you will listen in heaven, in the firmament of your dwelling place. And you will do all the things, for which that foreigner will have called upon you. So may all the peoples of the earth learn to fear your name, just as your people Israel do. And so may they show that your name has been invoked over this house, which I have built.

44. And if your people have gone out to war against their enemies, along whatever way you will send them, they shall pray to you in the direction of the city, which you have chosen, and toward the house, which I have built to your name.

45. And you will hear in heaven their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish judgment for them.

46. But if they sin against you, for there is no man who does not sin, and you, being angry, deliver them to their enemies, and they will have been led away as captives to the land of their enemies, whether far or near,

47. and if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity, and having been converted, make supplication to you in their captivity, saying, 'We have sinned; we acted unjustly; we committed impiety,'

48. and they return to you with all their heart and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they have been led away as captives, and if they pray to you in the direction of their land, which you gave to their fathers, and of the city, which you have chosen, and of the temple, which I have built to your name:

49. you will hear in heaven, in the firmament of your throne, their prayers and their petitions. And you will accomplish their judgment.

50. And you will forgive your people, who have sinned against you, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against you. And you will grant to them mercy in the sight of those who have made them captives, so that they may take pity on them.

51. For they are your people and your inheritance, whom you have led away from the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.

Read complete chapter 1 Kings 8